Day 34 - LA County enters yellow tier

Not the actual party I attended, but you get the idea…this picture doesn’t do the real backyard justice…

6/5/21. Saturday

9:30 -10:00 – I’m awake at 9:30, but continue lying in bed until 10:00 for transition time.

10:30 – 11:00 – Downstairs and I say good morning to the dog. Can you believe the workers are still there, in my neighbors’ yard?  We’re going on four weeks now! What are they doing over there?  I can’t go in my backyard without seeing some contractor staring down at me from a ladder. I rub the dog’s tummy three times and we go outside so she can do her business then I water my new jasmine vines. Return inside and coffee for me; pepper-jack cheese for her.  I go upstairs.

11:00-1:00 – I read All That You Leave Behind

1:00-2:00 – Lunch time.  I have leftover salmon/salad from B.’s house and continue with All That You Leave Behind.

2:00-3:30 – Shower. Lotion. Light make-up and my hair is in a pony tail. I wear a leopard print tank top, shorts, and flats. I listen to the Global Newshour.

3:30-4:00 – B. and I have a short phone call to discuss our plans for tonight.

4:00-4:45 – I drive to the 99 Cent Store to buy rubber gloves, a Father’s Day card, and a Graduation card for B.’s granddaughter. Store employees and patrons are still masked. I listen to On Our Watch while I shop. This podcast is excellent and features episodes of recorded interrogations of dirty cops by Internal Affairs – police officers are caught lying on police reports and propositioning/sexting/sleeping with victims whom they’ve exploited.  It’s disgusting and fascinating.  Each episode features a different California police department.

4:45-5:30 – Home and I take all of the items out of my Momentos bin so I can lift the empty container to the top shelf of my hall closet.  Once it’s in place, I repack it – my yearbooks were too heavy and the bin wouldn’t budge. Since I’m never going to move the container from this spot on the shelf, it should be fine.  More On Our Watch.

5:30-6:00 – I do a “touch-up” and finish with full make-up, then fill out the Graduation card and add $50.

6:30 – 9:30 – B. picks me up and we go to the graduation party for his granddaughter. B.’s daughter and son-in-law have outdone themselves!  The party is at their house and held outside in their beautiful yard.  It’s huge – every time you turn a corner, “easter eggs” appear.  For example, along the side of the house is an old-fashioned porch with pots of pink geraniums and a small TV hung near the ceiling – a pitcher of margaritas is sitting on a small table. 

Turn the corner, and there is a long, “last-supper table’, that fits at least 20 people comfortably, in the middle of the yard – everyone is eating and drinking and having a great time.

Turn the corner, and you have now reached a fire pit, encircled with Adirondack chairs.  There is a life-size Connect-4 game to the side for fun.  Keep walking and a few steps away is a catered Mexican feast, hosted by one of the local restaurant owners – I have salad, rice and beans, and a taco.  The food is so good!

J. and R. arrive and we all sit around the fire pit [it’s not lit] and eat our food. People are milling about in this section of the yard as well, but everyone fits, the backyard is that big!  I estimate between 40 and 50 people are in attendance.  There are white patio lights strung throughout and an elevated vegetable garden [in pine boxes] in yet another area of the yard. People are congregating throughout and it’s a great set-up, perfect for entertaining.  If this were my home, I would live in the backyard – you would never see me inside, it’s that beautiful. I love it.

In comparison, my backyard can hold around 10 people and that’s pushing it (smile emoji here)

9:30-12:00 – B. suggests to J. and R. that we meet for drinks at Alchemy. They’re up for it, so B. and I leave first and arrive at Alchemy before they get there. There is a mixture of indoor and outdoor seating so B. and I sit outside.  It is crowded and very loud.  There is a table behind us crammed with about 10 people and a couple of loud-mouthed male drunks who are yelling…yes, yelling…about nothing much in particular.  They are incapable of talking at normal decibels and one of the dirty men says repeatedly that he wants to go to some place called “Black and Blue.” Is this some kind of club?  What a horrible name. Expletives abound.

Staff approach and I am shocked to see that they are NOT masked. We’re outside, but still…staff are NOT masked even though it’s not June 15. I guess it makes sense – what’s so special about June 15 that the masks are able to come off?  It’s just an arbitrary day that the Governor picked so why not start a week early? B. has to step inside to order our drinks.  I’m no longer sure about Covid-19 etiquette – do patrons still have to put their masks on when they get up from the table?  Or use the restroom? Maybe not at this place, but just last weekend, all “guests” had to mask at the Santa Anita Race Track…

Did I mention there are Security Guards patrolling the patio, complete with guns?  That’s unusual – typically Security Guards aren’t armed. These guys are really jacked – I suspect steroids.

The table behind us finally clears out. Thank God.

B. and I have two rounds before J. and R. arrive, which is fine by me [insert smile emoji here].  J. and R. order and when the bartender/manager returns, she has kindly brought B. and I a third round.  I’m unclear if this third round is on the house, but I appreciate the gesture. We drink and talk together until 12:00 a.m., when we are forced to leave after the Security Guards do a sweep and kick everybody out. At midnight.  On a Saturday.  I’m puzzled by this – is it a Covid-19 related curfew?  If none of the staff or patrons are wearing masks, in accordance with Covid-19, why abide by Covid-19 hours? No matter – I’m tired so I don’t mind leaving now. B. pays for all of us, which must have cost a fortune. I really hope that third round was on the house…

12:15 – 1:15 - I live just around the corner so B. drops me off and I start getting ready for bed. L. is home and tells me about her day, which was spent with her friend, A., at the Mad Cap Motel and Firefly Restaurant. The Mad Cap Motel sounds really interesting – they both had a good time.

1:30-Finish nighttime routine. Bed. Great day!